Nobody Dies: Mari, the REE and Others
by shanejayell
Summary: Omake style spin-off from Nobody Dies by Gregg Landsman. Between Mari's 'death' and Return, what happened to her? Part two, the Asukae appear! Three & Four: NERV Antarctica! Five: Transmetropolitan!
1. Mari and the Ree

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from Evangelion, they all belong to Gainax. The Rei Ayanami clones in this fan fiction (the Ree) and Mari are based off of Gregg Landsman's story 'Nobody Dies' and I strongly recommend you read his fanfiction. This story contains spoilers for Nobody Dies and should probably not be read by those who are not reasonably up to date on the series.

**Summary for non-readers of Nobody Dies: **

If you're determined to read this story without reading Nobody Dies, here's what you need to know. Nobody Dies diverges from canon Evangelion when Yui Ikari decided not to go through with the experiment with Unit-01 that would have merged her with the Evangelion. The plot diverges there in two ways important to this story: Rei and her sister clones the Ree are crazy awesome cloud coo coo landers who in many ways take after their 'big Mommy' Lilith, and the battles with the Angels have gone quite different. Back up pilot Mari Illustrious Makinami was possessed by the core of a Angel and lead a attack on NERV, only to be 'killed' when the possessing core was destroyed.

Evangelion: Mari and the REE

The last thing Mari Illustrious Makinami remembered with any clarity is talking to Uri, then... a odd sort of blackness. Her memories seem buried under a layer of gauze or seen through smoky glass, unable to be understood.

The purple haired woman with glasses blinked as she looked around her, trying to get her bearings. The teenager stood in a green field, the grass stretching off around her as a gentle breeze ruffled her hair. Oddly the air carried no distinctive scent, something that made her frown in concern.

"Yaa!" Mari squeaked in surprise as a life sized three dimensional image of Yui Ikari simply appeared in front of her out of nowhere.

"You're awake, good," Yui smiled warmly as the older woman asked in a motherly way, "Mari, how do you feel?"

"Confused," Mari quickly shot back, "Where am I? What's going on?"

"You suffered a type of neural damage in the last angel attack," Yui explained patiently, "you're probably suffering some memory loss too."

"Oh," Mari said, blinking as she tried to process that. "So... where am I?" she asked again.

"You're in a comatose state," Yui explained carefully. "Too keep your brain active we've connected you to a virtual reality program we were running as a temporary measure. Once we can help you, we'll disconnect you from it."

Mari felt... oddly calm about all this, thought she suspected it might have something to do with just being a mind in a machine, apparently. Still, she figured this had to be better than being dead... "What virtual reality program am I in?" she had to ask.

That was when Yui looked kinda sheepish. "Well, we needed to get you hooked up pretty quickly, and it was the only program we have running continuously...."

Mari suspiciously asked, "What program?"

"Ah... maybe you should just meet them," Yui sighed. "Girls!" she called out.

"Heee~ey!" the six copies of Rei Ayanami suddenly popped up out of nowhere to pounce on the totally unprepared Mari.

"Ack!" Mari yelped as she was engulfed by white plugsuit clad albino teenagers. "Can't... breathe!" she yelped as her face was mashed into a pert bust. 'This must be what they mean by Marshmallow hell,' she thought dazedly.

"Girls!" Yui yelled, "Get off her!"

Mari breathed out a sigh of relief as they reluctantly climbed off her, then yelped as she was groped by one of the girls, "Hey!"

"Kiko!" Yui scolded, "Stop that."

"Yes, Mommy," Kiko let go reluctantly, then even offered Mari a hand up.

"So I'm in here with the Ree?" Mari asked Yui, as the girls looked at her much as a school of piranha looked at innocent swimmers.

"Yes, this is a virtual reality simulation we run constantly in Magi-00," Yui explained, "it gives the girls a medium to interact without breaching their containment, as well as educating them and keeping them entertained."

"I guess that makes sense," Mari admitted.

"To be honest I'm hoping your interacting with the Ree will be good for them," Yui added, addressing Mari on a channel that was private from the Ree, "while I've done my best to raise them, they lack socialization."

"Don't go in private mode," a Ree with the number one on her plugsuit complained, "it makes us feel left out."

"Sorry, Iti," Yui said gently. She looked at Mari, "Let me introduce them. This is Iti, Siyon, Nana, Hatchi, Kiko and Zyuu."

"Nice to meet you all," Mari bowed.

"Have fun playing," Yui waved then her image winked out.

"Yay!" Iti cheered, "Now we can play with you all the time! We don't get to meet new people often and you're a Evangelion pilot! Have you gotten to squish a Angel yet? Our sister Rei gets to squish Angels all the time which isn't fair because we could do it too and...."

Siyon cut in, "Hey, can you show us how this 'sex' thing works? We've been to websites and the last time we got out we played with Kensuke...."

"With a turnip!" Hatchi added cheerfully, crowding in close to both Siyon and Mari.

"But I don't think that's how it's supposed to work," Siyon mused. "Though he seemed to enjoy it," she added cheerfully.

As Kiko and Zyuu also tried to chime in Mari held up her hands as she yelped, "Be quiet" All six girls quieted down, giving her big, puppy-dog eyes. She smiled at them, "Just slow down and take it easy, I'm going to be here for awhile."

"She's right," Zyuu agreed, grinning.

Mari looked around at the green fields stretching off into the distance as she asked curiously, "Is it all like this?"

"Oh, no," Kiko told her earnestly, "we can make the environment whatever we want, within limits." She smiled slightly as she mused, "I think our little Mommy just wanted to give you a placid place to adjust for a bit."

Mari smirked, "Well, I don't normally do placid." She smiled as she added, "Why not show me the sort of places you girls go to play in?"

Iti grinned, taking her hand and Mari could 'feel' them moving from one file into another, reality shifting around them. They emerged on a battlefield, the wreckage of a city around them as they were attacked by... giant killer bunny mecha?!

"Grab a chainsaw and join in!" Nana yelled, materializing some kind of chain-sword and charging into the attack.

"Ah, what the hell?" Mari materialized a similar weapon and attacked.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Several days later, Mari was attending a virtual 'class' along with the Ree, doing so in a simulation of Shinji's classroom. Like the Ree she wore a girl's school uniform, having learned to alter her clothing almost at will. Tuning out the droning teacher Mari accessed her virtual diary and began to input a entry.

As I get to know the Ree, I'm starting to get a sense of them as individuals. Iti tries to be the most 'mature' of them, and other than Rei is the closest thing to a leader they have. They're all very fun loving, with a energy level well above normal, but they each prefer their own activities.

I am a bit creeped out at how obsessed around procreation they are. The girls have a laser-like focus on having babies...

**Babies.**_!_

"Would whoever took over my keyboard please stop that?" Mari asked subliminally to the Ree.

"Sorry," one of the girls answered sheepishly.

"And stop reading over my shoulder," Mari added.

"Yes," she sighed.

As I mentioned, the girls have a major thing about procreation. They really enjoy watching Shinji's class in VR, and look rather lustily at Kensuke Aida, Shinji himself and the other boys. I also need to remember to mention to Yui that they've broken the 'parental block' on their internet access and have been visiting some pretty sketchy sites. 4-chan, several adult ones and something called spacebattles.

The only Ree who isn't focused on banging the male gender is Kiko, who seems to have the opposite interest. In addition to me she's apparently groped Asuka and Kyouko Soryu, though how she managed the last one is beyond me. She's approached me after the first groping and we've talked, thankfully without any overt sexual moves. She's even helped me learn to access the other Magi.

Using that access I've finally figured out my condition and why I'm here with the Ree. It looks like when I was possessed by Ramiel my mind moved into it's core, and when Uri killed it, my mind took over. I'm stuck inside the core, possibly forever. I'm also a semi-Angel, which is why Yui can't let me run around free, too, a lot like the Ree. I'm not happy about the situation, obviously, but it could be a whole lot worse. I could be dead.

"Ms. Makinami," the teacher got her attention at last and pointed at the board, "can you please answer the question?"

'How boring,' Mari sighed as she stood up and did so.

Later that day Mari and the girls finished off another simulation, this time with them all piloting copies of Evangelion against a multiple Angel attack. It was a very fun game, Mari found, but it wasn't quite the same as reality. She missed the feeling and scent of the LCL, and mused about editing it into the game somehow.

"Hey, Nana?" Mari asked, staying in her virtual plugsuit for a while, "Are these games also training in case we need to defend NERV?"

"Probably," Nana agreed, shifting out of her '3' labeled plugsuit into street clothes, "our little momma is clever that way."

"That she is," Mari agreed, mentally running through the other games and wondering how many of them were training, in different ways. After a moment she realized ALL of the games were, except possibly the killer bunnies. 'Well,' she mentally corrected herself, 'it could be some kind of urban combat training, I suppose....'

Kiko cleared her throat, catching everyone's attention. (Well, what she really did was send a non-verbal hail to them all, but it felt like someone clearing their throat.) "Could I borrow Mari for some alone time?" she asked.

Iti looked at the others, the girls communicating silently, then nodded as she answered, "Sure, as long as it's fine with Mari."

Mari hesitated a moment, then shrugged. "Sure," she said, moving over to Kiko and the two of them shifting to another area.

While the Ree got along well and played together often, they also respected each sister's need to have 'alone time.' Along with that they respected Mari's need to get away, and had even developed some kind of arcane schedule for each sister to spend time with her. Mari didn't mind it, though at times she felt like the husband in some kind of strange group marriage. Or a harem.

The room was a virtual replica of the Tokyo-3 public library, though deserted of people. They appeared near a corner with comfy couches to sit in and Kiko lead her toward them, sitting down on one and waving for Mari to sit opposite her.

Mari sat down, willing her plugsuit away and replacing it with street clothes, a t-shirt and shorts. Kiko went with a school girl's uniform again, though the top was unbuttoned more than usual. "So," Mari asked, "what can I do for you?"

"Uhm," Kiko looked down at the floor then blurted it all out in a single breath, "Iwanttoaskyouafavor!"

Mari decoded that after a moment and noted Kiko's fierce blush. "What favor?" she asked.

Kiko actually looked more embarassed as she admitted, "I've never kissed anyone before...."

Mari blinked, looking at the teen in surprise. "You haven't?" she asked, "Not even your sisters?"

"Well, I've kissed my sisters," Kiko waved that off, "but that's not the same thing." She looked at Mari earnestly, "Please, Obi-wan, you're my only hope!"

Mari broke up laughing at that, smiling at the young woman. It wasn't like she had any serious issues with the idea of girl on girl, anyway. Hell, considering her Mom ran off with a woman she might even be predisposed to it!

"All right," Mari agreed, "one kiss."

"Right!" Kiko smiled. She suddenly turned shy as she murmured, "Show me how?"

"Sure," Mari agreed.

Gently Mari cupped Kiko's face in her hands, bending close as she pressed her lips to the other girl's lips. Kiko leaned into her, her lips parting in excitement as Mari kissed her chastely, then pressed gently with her tongue. Kiko got the idea and the kiss deepened, then reluctantly they pulled apart.

"Wow," Kiko murmured, her eyes wide.

"That," Mari told her with a grin, "is how you kiss."

"Wow!" Kikjo yelped, bounding up then practically knocking Mari over, looking down at her excitedly, "Can we do it again?! And this time can I take off your shirt? You've got such nice ones and I wanted to touch 'em all the time we were kissing, and....."

"Calm down," Mari laughed, fending her off like a oversized puppy. As Kiko sat back, pouting, Mari sat up again, laughing. "Yes, you can kiss me again," she told her, faintly surprised at how fun it had been, "and then I'll tell you about getting to first base, second base and third base."

"Bases?" Kiko blinked.

"You'll see," Mari grinned as she kissed her again.

End.

Notes:

It hasn't exactly been covered what sort of environment the Ree live in in 'Nobody Dies.' We know that they're in Terminal Dogma and have to stay there or they might die/turn to Angels, but other than that not much is known. The idea of them having a shared virtual reality seemed to make sense, and it gives Yui a means to prepare them if they can be released eventually.

Mari's character is based mostly off my reading Nobody Dies and other fanfic, as I have not seen the Second new Evangelion movie. (Her having a lesbian mother is also from Nobody Dies.) Kiko is also mostly my take, tho admittedly Kiko did bust out with the other Ree and grope Asuka.


	2. Mari, the Ree and the Asukae

Note: While this is a authorized spin-off of Nobody Dies this is NOT CANON to that series. Tho heh, who knows what goes on behind the scenes?

Nobody Dies: Mari, the Ree and the Asukae

Mari Illustrious Makinami frowned as the young woman combed the various Magi computers, searching the systems for any remaining trace of the Angel Iruel. It was bad enough fighting it the first time when it had hacked virtual reality and tortured her fellow pilots. That had forced a early activation of her as 'Magi 04' and had lead to a... pretty damn surreal fight in the Magi against it.

Mari had found awakening to her own abilities strange enough, but her fellows had it even stranger. Shinji saw his 'aunt' Naoko die, received her access and became a pseudo 'Neo' type figure, Mana became some insane 'machine man', and Rei became a naked giant. The Evangelions themselves invaded, including doggy Zwei and Pika-Ichi, and Go-kun did a Orbital entry, for gods sakes!

"I knew I shouldn't have let you take Iruel," Mari scolded as several of the Ree helped her search a virtual representation of the data files.

"Sorry,Mari," Zyuu said humbly, the most Shinji obsessed Ree looking sheepish, even though she was wearing her French Maid outfit again.

"Sorry," several other Ree chorused.

Mari sighed, knowing the guilt was mostly on her. She had agreed with the girls that it would be poetic justice to dump the last of Iruel's code into the Ree VR sim in Magi-00, the REETRIX. There the girls subjected their new plaything to whatever fun they could come up with including playing 'hide the filing cabinet' and guided tours of 4chan, but somehow it escaped captivity.

Even worse, it escaped right when the three new Trident combat units arrived. So of course Iruel possessed them and turned them against the pilots, plotting to nuke all of Tokyo-3. About the only good thing to come out of the mess was that it stopped the JSSDF from decommissioning Mana, but that was just about it.

And to top it all off, Iruel decided to mess with Asuka, the most mentally vulnerable of all of them. Asuka was being oddly quiet on the details, but somehow she overcame him, in the process helping expel him from the three Trident Units. Iruel attempted to use a attacking Cherubim to finish them off, but the combined might of Evangelions and Jet Alone Prime took him out.

Which left Mari and her new friends the Ree sweeping the Magi making sure Iruel left them no more nasty surprises.

"Mari, I found something! Can I blow it up?" Nana yelled, waving eagerly.

"No, you can't," Mari growled, jogging over to examine the packet of sealed data that Nana had found in the representation of the Magi they were in. She 'scanned' it, noting there didn't seem to be any viral traces, but it appeared to be sealed.

Taking advantage of her distraction Kiko reached around Mari, squeezing her breasts as she purred, "Yay, as perky as ever!"

"I'm trying to concentrate, here," Mari shrugged her off, blushing. She REALLY needed to teach the Ree about 'personal space' one of these days. She noted that the breast grabbing itself had become old hat, and decided it might be time for a vacation. Or something.

"Aww," Kiko pouted. She peered down at the data 'cube' that was sitting in their virtual landscape, frowning slightly. "Hey, it's sealed under Asuka's authorization codes," she pointed out,

"Doesn't mean Iruel couldn't have hacked them," Nana noted, then flashed a smile. "Nuke it from orbit, it's the only way to be sure."

"We are not nuking it," Mari told her firmly. "At least, not until we know what it is."

"So let's open it," Zyuu touched the data casually.

"No!" both Mari, Nana and Kiko blurted.

As the data exploded outward, mixing with the virtual reality of the REETRIX, Zyuu looked sheepish, "Oops."

Mari watched as fragments of data propagated and filled in, what looked like data from a core recording blending with the REETRIX systems to create a series of virtual reality simulations... of Asuka? Well, sort of Asuka....

One woman was wearing a scarlet plugsuit, looking around her with a arrogant confidence. One was wearing a lab-coat and coveralls, and she hefted a science-fiction meets steampunk weapon, goggles pushed up on her head. One looked mostly like the usual Asuka, gazing around nervously. And finally what looked like a giant, plush Zwei loomed over them all.

"What the f___?" Mari sighed.

"Yay, new friends!" Iti yelled, tackling the arrogant looking Asuka and bowling her over onto the simulated grass.

"How dare you lay hands on Asuka the Great?!" she growled, punching Iti in the face and barely fazing her. "Get off!"

"Where are we?" Woobie Asuka asked timidly.

The giant Zwei Doll curled around her protectively, "Don't worry, it will be all right."

"It's so cute!" Zyuu squealed, running in circles around the now bewildered Doll, "I want to keep it and raise it and call it George!"

"Why George?" Mari asked.

"Why not?" Zyuu shrugged.

"Gah," Mari sighed as the strange women were mobbed by the rest of the Ree.

Hatchi was looking with hearts in her eyes at the unusual gun the one Asuka was hefting. "What IS it?" she squealed happily. "Can I try it? Please?"

Spark!Asuka grinned, "It's my new voltage cannon." She handed it over, "You have to be careful of the power settings though..."

ZZZAP!

"Hatchi!" Nana yelped, leaping up into the air as the bolt nearly hit her, crisping several hairs on one side of her head.

"Ooops," Hatchi tossed the gun to Spark!Asuka and bolted.

"Get back here!" Nana yelled, chasing after both fleeing women.

"Esel!" Asuka yelled as she rolled on the ground fighting Iti, "Swine! Idiot!"

"Same to you!" Iti yelled cheerfully, trading blows with the other woman.

"I'll bet you our Iti wins," Siyon said, having snuck up on Mari yet again.

"Eep!" Mari yelped, nearly jumping in surprise. "How do you DO that?" she growled.

A faint smile tugged on Siyon's lips, "It's a gift."

"And we're not betting on this," Mari sighed, wishing she had a bucket of cold water to dump on the scrapping women, or something.

"Please," Zyuu smiled warmly at the cowering Asuka, "can I keep her?"

"N.. no," Woobie Asuka stammered, "Dollie is one of us."

"Could someone please explain where we are?" Dollie asked plaintively.

Deciding there wasn't much she could do about Iti and the other Asuka except for waiting for them to get tired or mutual KO, Mari made her way over to the two women. "You're in the REETRIX," she told them, "though I don't know how you got here."

"Th... The virtual reality the Ree use?" Asuka said, her eyes widening as she looked around nervously. "Is the Ree that, uhm, grabbed me around?"

"They're as big as ever!" came from behind Asuka as Kiko did a reach around to grab her by the boobs once again.

"Eek!" Asuka yelped.

"Let her go," Mari yanked her away, scowling, surprised at how angry she was.

Kiko pouted, then she noted the look on Mari's face. "Are you jealous?" she smiled suddenly.

"I am not," Mari scowled.

Kiko took on a sing song tone, "Mari is jealous, Mari is jealous!"

Mari gritted her teeth and ignored her, faintly troubled by the idea that she might be right. Addressing the timid Asuka again she said, "We found a block of data while sweeping the Magi and it had Asuka's codes on it. Zyuu here opened it, and here you are."

"That's strange," Dollie noted, frowning as much as a giant stuffed toy could.

"Nah, it's quite simple," Spark!Asuka said, having evaded Hatchi and Nana and double backed on the group. "The last thing I remember was the fight with Iruel," she looked sat the other Asukas, "does that match up with you?"

"Yes," Woobie Asuka agreed while Dollie just nodded.

"Zwei must have tried to 'copy' us as a safety measure," Spark!Asuka shrugged, "and dumped the file in the Magi for safe keeping."

"You!" a crispy looking Nana appeared and lunged for Spark!Asuka, sending her running away once more.

"Guess that makes sense," Mari conceded, "but we're going to virus scan all four of you carefully, just to be sure."

"Understandable," Dollie said.

Mari looked at them, Nana chasing the other and the rest of the Ree watching the ongoing catfight between Iti and Asuka the Great, and shook her head. "Of course, what do we do with you after comes up..." she sighed.

With a final, heroic blow Asuka the Great knocked Iti out, then staggered away before declaring, "I WON!" Then without warning she flopped over, out cold.

"I like them," Zyuu smiled, "I say we keep them."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 **

Yui Ikari looked like she had a headache as she processed Mari's report. "You're telling me that four Asukas are living in Magi-00? Asukas? Asukii?" she shook her head, bewildered.

"They're calling themselves the Asukae," Mari offered. "I've virus scanned them top to bottom, and they're clean."

"Well, if Rei and Go-Kun can have virtual children, why can't Asuka's personalities exist separately?" Gendo offered, shrugging.

"And who gets to break this to Asuka and Kyoko?" Yui asked wryly, imagining the explosion likely to come out of Kyoko. Asuka was a bit harder to guess at her reaction. She might take it well, she might not.

"Tell Asuka," Mari offered, "not Kyoko. It's not like she really needs to know anyway."

"Hmm," Gendo nodded, "it's not like the Asukae can leave Magi-00 anyway."

"Well," Mari hesitated.

"What?" Yui asked with a sigh.

"The Ree do kind of know about the avatars we use for the Evangelions, so...." Mari shrugged.

Both Gendo and Yui looked at each other, and sighed.

To be continued...?

Notes: Yet another silly, not to be taken seriously romp in the world of Gregg Landsman's story 'Nobody Dies.' The idea of calling the multiple Asuka the 'Asukae' is Earth Scorpion's from Spacebattles, the same forum site that hosts the Nobody Dies discussion thread I frequent. What I'm trying to do, mostly, is write AROUND the canon of ND, while doing silly bits with the characters.

The REE, as described by Gregg Landsman.

Nana (explosions are her God)  
Iti (produce expert. Especially turnips. Helped deflower Kensuke)  
Hatchi (gun nut. Western fetish. Helped deflower Kensuke)  
Kiko (BEWBS)  
Zyuu (Fluffy Tamer. Wants to do...things...to Shinji. French maid fetish)  
Siyon (Thinks life is a stealth game and will use her AT field to create a MGS-esque game over music when caught).


	3. NERV Antarctica

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from Evangelion or any related works, they all belong to Gainax. This is VERY LOOSELY based off conversations in the Nobody Dies thread on spacebattles dot com, but is not canon with Nobody Dies.

NERV: Antarctica

Part One

NERV-Antarctica does not exist.

There is no artificial island where Antarctica once was, straddling the dead sea left by the Second Impact. There are no ADAM-derived life forms spawning in those dead waters, rising up to inherit the Earth after the Angels have triumphed and wiped humanity away. NERV does not maintain a military force to hunt down and contain those life forms, for the protection of humanity.

NERV-Antarctica does not exist.

Gendo Ikari's glasses caught the light, hiding his eyes as Doctor Mayumi Yamishi sat across the desk from him, the black haired woman shifting nervously. 'Does he do that intentionally?' she wondered, imagining him practicing taking different positions to see how the light would best reflect off of his glasses.

"Doctor Yamishi, your superior Doctor Akagi speaks well of you," Gendo said tersely, steepling his hands as he studied her calmly.

Mayumi did her best not to fidget, thought it was hard. She had been working under Ritsuko in Project E for several months, and she felt she had done pretty well. Her only issue had been the lack of opportunities to do hard science, rather than just running tests on Angel remains. "Thank you sir," she said with a nod.

"In fact, she recommended you for a detached assignment," Gendo said, pushing a folder across the desk towards her with one hand.

Flipping it open Mayumi scanned the pages, frowning at how much was blacked out. From what she could piece together from the non-censored bits, NERV was running a research center somewhere, and there was apparently the chance to study Angelic lifeforms directly. "Where...," she looked up at him questioningly.

"I can't divulge details until you sign the agreement to be stationed there," Gendo told her flatly, "however, I believe this is a place where your skills would shine." He hesitated a moment as he admitted, "And in all honesty we need your skills there."

Mayumi looked at Gendo, then down at the contract at the end of the folder. She hesitated, then picked up a pen and signed, decisively.

"Very good," Gendo smiled slightly as he continued, "Welcome to NERV-Antarctica."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Weeks later Mayumi mentally cursed as the scientist desperately held onto a strut on the helicopter as the military craft soared over the sea. The waters below them were eerily calm, as was the entire Dead Sea that now existed where Antarctica was, but the winds still buffeted the copter. After signing the documents at NERV she had been bundled off to a waiting resupply vessel, leaving Japan with barely enough time to close her apartment and tell her friends she would be gone. Then the rough sea voyage and seasickness, and now a helicopter trip with a maniac pilot.

'My mother was right, I should have gone into interior decorating,' Mayumi thought, trying her best not to be violently sick.

"Are you all right, doctor?" Kaede Agano asked, her short, pixie cut brown hair falling around her face. The NERV technician was officially Mayumi's aide, and had accompanied her from Tokyo-3 on all the steps of her journey. They had even shared a room on the ship, leading to a certain degree of temptation on Mayumi's part. Sadly the young lady seemed uninterested, and she didn't want to spoil the working relationship with a unwanted advance.

"I'm fine," Mayumi smiled weakly as the helicopter rattled around them again, "the ride is just a bit rough, is all." She looked out at the water, not even able to see the ship they had launched from, and asked, "How much longer?"

"According to the briefing papers I read, we should be there soon," Kaede comforted her. She looked out another window, frowning as she peered off into the distance then pointed south as she said, "There it is!"

The artificial structure resembled a simple oil drilling platform, at first. A metal platform supported by columns of concrete and steel, perched above the oddly red waters. But as they neared the sheer size of the artificial island became apparent, stretching miles across and very wide, as well as descending below the waves in some portions. There were what looked like safety walls rising along the edges of the platform, almost reminding her of fortifications.

'Though why would they be worried about someone climbing on?' Mayumi thought, dismissing the notion. Still, she had to admit she was impressed, especially since she hadn't heard about any of this in her professional journals.

"Coming in for a landing," the pilot's voice sounded oddly nervous as he continued, "please look out for any bogies, please."

"Bogies?" Kaede blinked.

"Why are they worried about attackers...?" Mayumi started to agree with her when SOMETHING leaped at the copter out of the red waters.

The thing looked a bit like a fish, but it also had legs, suction cup tentacles on it's head and a wide mouth with a hell of a lot of teeth in it. Hissing and snapping it stuck to the passenger side window as Mayumi screamed, scrambling backwards in shock. She yelped as Kaede yanked her away from the window, then gunfire rang out. The creature exploded against the side of the copter in a splash of red, the copter hovering for a moment as they waited for another attack.

Both woman sat there in a tangle of limbs, hearts racing as the excitement faded. "Get this thing down," Kaede called angrily to the pilot, recovering her wits first.

"Right," the somewhat wild eyed pilot agreed, taking the stick and carefully easing the copter down on the landing pad where several security officers were looking around warily, at least one of their guns smoking faintly

They landed softly, the door to the helicopter sliding open and the two women scrambling out, standing there as a cool breeze washed over them. Staff hurried to unload supplies as a tall blond strode forward, ushering them away from the copter.

"What the hell WAS that?" Mayumi recovered enough of her composure to ask.

"That's what you're here to help us find out," the woman said, smiling slightly. She was dressed in the typical NERV uniform of tan jacket and trousers. Oddly she also wore a pistol belted to her side, and there were marks on the leather indicating it saw fairly regular use. "Doctor Yamishi?" she smiled.

Mayumi looked up at her, clearing her throat nervously. "Yes, that's me," she nodded.

"I'm Satsuki Ooi, head of NERV-Antarctica," the woman offered her hand as she said pleasantly, "Welcome to the base."

"Thank you," Mayumi answered weakly, shaking her hand, "and this is my assistant, Kaede Agano."

"Pleased to meet you," Kaede squeaked.

Satsuki Ooi hid a smile. "Follow me, let's get you out of the wind," she said briskly.

The group headed for a stairway leading down into the artificial island as Mayumi tentatively said, "Uhm, I was never fully briefed on what I'm supposed to be doing here..."

"Commander Ikari tends to keep security fairly tight on this facility," Satsuki told her mildly. She continued, "As you know, creatures commonly called 'Angels' have been attacking Tokyo-3 over the past several months."

"Yes," Mayumi said, looking around curiously as they entered a steel lined walkway. There were cameras placed evenly along the hall, and what looked like security shutters set up to seal off sections of the hall.

"What you may not know is that a similar entity we refer to as Adam was the trigger to Second Impact, the event that destroyed Antarctica," Satsuki told her as they entered a large command chamber, with large view screens showing the ocean floor, the sea around them as well as thermal views and sonar displays. Men and women worked at terminals in front of them and on both sides, though it was hard to tell what they were doing from where they were standing.

Mayumi hid her lack of surprise at that information. While the cover story had been accepted by the general populace, most hard scientists knew that the asteroid hitting Antarctica story was bullshit. Too many details didn't match what scientists expected a meteoroid impact to cause, not to mention the lack of a expected 'nuclear winter.'

Satsuki smiled faintly, covertly acknowledging that Mayumi wasn't stupid. "Not long after the disaster scientists from GHEIRN and later NERV established a research station here, trying to fully understand what happened," she explained, waving around them.

"This is a lot bigger than a usual research station," Mayumi noted dryly. She didn't want to imagine how much this base cost, much less the staffing requirements.

"That's because when the Angels attacked Tokyo-3, things started happening here too," Satsuki shrugged with remarkable casualness. She put her hand on the shoulder of a technician working on a nearby terminal, "Aoi, bring up file footage 21-d."

The boyish young woman with the name tag 'Aoi Mogami' nodded as she hit a series of keys. "Yes, ma'am," she said.

What came up on the smaller screen nearby them was under water footage, showing a large pipe leading into the sea bed, much like in a oil well. "This is a conduit into a geofront discovered here before the turn of the century," Satsuki said, "we believe that Adam emerged from it. Watch, this happened at almost the exact time Sachiel launched it's attack on Tokyo-3."

The scene remained still for a moment, then suddenly gasses bubbled out around the pipe. Air, or possibly some other gas. As the gas vented the pipe shook and rattled, then it visibly jerked to the side as various things wiggled out into the sea. They looked like no fish or land animal Mayumi had ever seen, some horrific hybrid of existing creatures. Some died as they hit the water but others didn't, spreading out to swim up or away.

"Eep," Kaede gasped softly, the young woman taking a half step back even as Mayumi leaned forward, studying the image intently.

"What are they?" Mayumi asked, her eyes widening as she watched more of the things crawling out onto the seabed, "Were any captured?"

"We've been catching and containing these things since the Angel attacks started," Satsuki answered seriously, "as what they are, we're hoping you can help answer that question."

"Incredible...," Mayumi breathed out while Kaede gave her a look as if she was crazy.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Barely a week later alarms rang out through the base as Mayumi crouched behind a desk turned on it's side as a improvised barrier, holding a NERV issue pistol in sweaty hands as another life-form rampaged through the hallways. "Does this happen often?" she squeaked to the red headed security officer guarding the lab.

"Yeah, somewhat" Yoko Litner agreed casually, hefting a very big rifle as she fired shots down the hallway. The busty redhead was the head of Mayumi's security team, watching over the lab and preventing any subjects from escaping. And in this case, making sure nothing broke in. "We can usually catch anything that comes up the Geofront tap, but sometimes stuff gets by us," she noted.

"Oh god we're gonna die," Kaede moaned, looking at the shaggy, lovecraftian horror that was making it's way up the hall. The thing looked like a unholy cross between a sheep-dog and a octopus, trailing green ooze.

"Don't bet on it," Yoko snarled as she pulled out a grenade, yanking the pin and hurled it down the hall even as she fired her rifle.

"Duck!" Mayumi tackled Kaede down as Yoko also dived for cover, the grenade detonating with a roar. The hall shook and the floor jerked, the blast splattering the walls with green ooze.

"We're alive?" Kaede ventured weakly.

"We're alive," Yoko agreed, peering up the hall. "Hey, doc, looks like you have lots of new stuff to test out."

"Oh joy," Mayumi sighed, climbing out from behind her desk and considering how to mop up the remains. 'Wonder if they have a industrial strength vacuum?'

To be continued...


	4. NERV Antarctica Two

NERV: Antarctica

Part Two

"Keep running!" Satsuki Aoi yelled on Monday, the blond haired woman firing her pistol over her shoulder as they pelted down the corridor ahead of a swarm of dog-like things. The lime green skinned things had already mauled security officer Wisner to death, and had overwhelmed a security checkpoint.

"I hate this job!" Mayumi wailed as she panted, the black haired woman running as fast as she could, her lab coat fluttering around her legs. With a yelp the coat tangled up her legs and she tripped, falling to the ground in a heap.

"Just think how good the pay is," Satsuki shot back as she ran between her and the attackers. The woman looked like some kind of Valkyrie as she emptied her clip into the creatures, staggering them. "Get up!" she ordered.

Mayumi staggered to her feet, pushing off from the wall as she started running again. "Thank you," she panted.

"No problem," Satsuki smiled as they ran around a corner to where Mayumi's security team had set up a defensive position to stop the critters. She and Mayumi dove behind the security barriers, scrambling around to watch what happened.

"Lock and load," Yoko ordered, the busty redhead laying a heavy rifle along the barrier and taking aim, a laser sight shining down the hallway

"That is one big rifle," Mayumi found herself noting, the relief at being moderately safe making her feel a little giddy. "Are you sure you aren't compensating for something?" she quipped teasingly as Satsuki chuckled softly.

"Oh shut up," Yoko said as the things skid around the corner. "Fire!" she ordered.

Bullets and other accelerated projectiles blasted down the hallway, shredding the demon-dogs in splashes of blue blood. The howling beasts surged forward by weight of numbers, pushing on as the security team fired madly, trying to halt the deadly advance.

With a total disregard for her own safety Satsuki was using her pistol to contribute to the weight of fire, then a similar mad impulse struck Mayumi. Drawing her own service pistol she started putting bullets into the dog things too, her lips pulled back in a snarl.

With a final gurgling sound the creatures ground to a stop within feet of the barricade, the blue blood oozing out over the floor. Yoko casually stood up, pulling a cigar from her pocket and lighting it. "I love it when a plan comes together," she grinned, clenching the cigar in her teeth.

As the mop up began the officers seemed to take Satsuki's helping them in stride, but several of the men and women were giving Mayumi thoughtful looks. One blue haired man with sunglasses grinned down at her, then clapped her on the back as he declared, "Welcome to NERV Antarctica!."

"Huh?" Mayumi blinked as several security officers echoed that, even though it had been weeks since she had arrived.

Satsuki was smiling slightly as other guards similarly greeted Mayumi or slapped her on the back. "It means they've accepted you," she told the younger woman.

"Thanks," Mayumi paused as she considered it, "I think."

"Unlike Kaede," Yoko noted with a scowl, "who screams and hides every time something goes wrong." She spat on the deck, making everyone wince a bit.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

You couldn't really find a place to have a cozy dinner in NERV Antarctica. It was a big place, admittedly, but almost all of it was committed to various functions. Security had a large chunk, as did living quarters, science division, power and other departments. The closest thing to a restaurant was the cafeteria, tho admittedly the food was pretty good.

'It'd have to be, or the staff would probably riot,' Mayumi noted as she sat with her tray across from Kaede, glad the week was half-way through. She looked at the miserable young woman and gently asked, "Are you all right?"

"No," Kaede sighed, looking down at her food. She looked up at Mayumi in desperate appeal as she whispered, "How do you stand it, here? There's been three attacks on the platform already, and we've only been here a few weeks!"

"The squid thing that hit the helicopter when we arrived doesn't really count as a attack," Mayumi noted precisely, "more of an incident."

Kaede was looking at her like she was nuts. "How can you take this so calmly?" she asked.

Mayumi chewed at her food even as she tried to come up with something to say that would help the younger woman. "It's the job we signed up for," she said, shrugging. She looked at Kaede compassionately, "Have you tried getting closer to the security guys?"

"No," Kaede admitted, "they seem kind of rough."

"Some of them are," Mayumi agreed willingly, "but they can help you learn to take care of yourself, and once you do that this place will be easier to deal with."

"I hadn't thought of that," Kaede admitted reluctantly.

In working with Kaede over the past few months, Mayumi had drawn the conclusion that Kaede was the type who wanted other to take care of her. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but it put her at a disadvantage out here on a base full of independent minded souls. And, honestly, it had lowered Mayumi's opinion on her too.

"Have you met Yoko's friend Simon?" Mayumi suggested, thinking of the somewhat shy security man. "He might be someone you could talk to," she nodded.

Kaede smiled, "All right, I'll try."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Later that week Satsuki gently pushed Mayumi back on her desk, kissing the scientist's neck hungrily. Mayumi moaned weakly as she was pushed backwards, her pulse racing happily. Satsuki ran a hand up her thigh and chuckled when she hit the old fashioned garters under the skirt.

"What?" Mayumi asked a bit breathlessly.

"I always liked garters and stockings on a woman," Satsuki admitted, smiling down at her. She tilted her head to the side, "Did someone tell?"

"I asked Yoko about it," Mayumi admitted a bit sheepishly. "Since you rescued me weeks ago I've been interested, but I couldn't seem to get your attention."

Satsuki chuckled softly, "Oh, I noticed all right." She looked at Mayumi fondly, "I wanted to let the hero worship fade a bit, first." She poked Mayumi gently, "Though you made it damn hard to pretend not to notice!"

Mayumi blushed as she remembered some of her more blatant attempts to get the woman's attention. "Sorry," she chuckled, then gasped as she kissed the skin exposed by her low cut blouse.

"It made for a pretty hot show," Satsuki murmured as she cupped those firm breasts in her hands. As Mayumi cooed she thumbed the hard nipples, then moved to pull the shirt off...

Ba-WOO Ga! Both women jerked apart as they heard the alarms go off, cursing softly as they looked around them wildly. "You have got to be kidding me," Mayumi growled as she swiftly straightened up her clothes.

"Damn it," Satsuki agreed, running a hand through her messy hair.

Mayumi got out her cellphone and dialled security, "Yoko, what the hell's going on?"

"Slug things climbing up over the walls up top," Yoko answered with a surprising degree of calm, "I think we've got it covered." She sounded amused as she cheerily added, "Go back to getting the boss laid."

"Yoko!" Mayumi blushed furiously.

"What, that wasn't what you were doing?" Yoko asked impishly, adding, "The boss is easier on all of us if she gets laid, too. Get to it!"

Blushing furiously Mayumi said goodbye, then relayed the information about the attack. "Yoko says they have things under control," she told Satsuki.

"Yoko knows her business," Satsuki agreed, smiling, She took the phone from Mayumi's hand and set it aside, then gently pushed the woman up against the counter. Smiling impishly she kissed Mayumi tenderly as Satsuki purred, "Let's get back to what we were doing..."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"You have got to be kidding me!" Kaede wailed about a week later as she tried to pick one of the attackers off, aiming up into the cool blue sky, "Flying monkeys?"

Despite Kaede's protests she lined up and shot it fairly well, sending it plummeting into the sea. Clearly her practice had paid off, Mayumi noted as she took aim and popped another one, nailing it in a burst of green blood. "They aren't really monkeys," she noted as she looked at the hunched, misshapen humanoid with wings, "but they do bear a resemblance."

With clear reluctance Kaede bagged the remains in a specimen container and tossed it aside, to be collected later. "Eww," she sighed.

Since surviving six attacks in the last three months, Mayumi had become a regular visitor to the firing range. She still wasn't a expert with a rifle, but by god she could hit what she aimed at with her hand gun. And it wasn't like there was much else to do other than working in her lab or sleeping with Satsuki...

"So," Kamina asked as the security guard helped the team picking attackers out of the sky, "have you figured out what these things are?" While dressed in the usual security gear he had his shirt open to reveal the fire tattoo across it, and he wore odd, angular sunglasses.

"Not precisely," Mayumi admitted as she fired, trying to hit a fast moving one, "but I sent Akagi a theory about why they exist."

Yoko hefted her rifle calmly and blasted another of the fliers as she asked, "Do tell."

With a tired sigh Mayumi lowered her arms, sore from firing the gun upwards for a hour. "I think they're Angel food," she answered them simply.

"Eh?" both Kaede and Yoko looked at her in surprise. They also both stopped shooting, but thankfully the attack was winding down.

"Think about it," Mayumi shrugged as she asked, "what are they going to eat? The angels certainly don't seem compatible with our biology. Therefore they need something else to eat."

"That makes a disturbing kind of sense," Kaede conceded as they shot down another one.

"So boss," Yoko asked as she casually lined up another shot, "you gonna stay on after your six month tour is up?"

"Hell no!" Kaede yelped, "Are you nuts!" She looked over at Mayumi and was surprised to just see a thoughtful look on her face.

"Aww," Simon grinned teasingly at Kaede, "I thought you were starting to fit right in."

"Heh," Mayumi shook her head, calmly shooting another flying monkey down. 'You know, maybe I will stay on,' she mused, smiling slightly.

End?

Notes: Second draft version, somewhat expanded on. Yoko, Kamina and Simon are all from Gurren Lagann, other characters are either original characters or from various Evangelion spin offs like 'Shinji Ikari Raising Project.' Gendo Ikari in this could either be from canon or Nobody Dies, depending on what you prefer. Heh! In addition to my usual scene break symbols I tried to toss in more date mentions, not sure if that worked.


	5. Transmetropolitan

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from Nobody Dies or Transmetropolitan, I'm only borrowing them for awhile. Don't sue me, you won't get anything out of it.

Nobody Dies/Transmetropolitan

Spider Jerusalem's battered old car came up over a rise and wheezed to a stop as the heavily bearded man got out and lit up a battered smoke. He looked a bit like a wild man come down from the mountains, which was pretty much what happened. He puffed on his cigarette as he looked down at Tokyo-3, the supposed city of the future that guarded humanity.

"Notes for 'I hate it here' feature," Spider spoke into a small recorder, "finally made it across the police state of Japan. Massive amount of regulation just to travel, with tiny dicked police officers asking for documentation all over. Interfering shits."

Spider finished off his smoke then crushed it against the side of the car to put it out. Thankfully, the rust bucket didn't just fall apart from the impact.

"If I had any choice at all, I'd still be up on the mountain where I belong," Spider admitted resentfully, "but I finally burned through my money, and my damn publisher was demanding that book I promised them. So I armed the ebola bomb under the toilet and set back out into the world, looking for something worth writing about."

"All this started with the election book 'Shot in the Face' I wrote about Keil's run for the German chancellor slot," Spider remembered. "Once I was done with his dirty dealings he couldn't run again, but I'd become famous. There were too many people wanting too much from me, and all getting between me and the work."

Spider lit another cigarette, pulling on it deeply as it flared to life. "That, and the assassins Keil sent after me," he remembered fondly. "I had to get away from it all, and I finally found peace on the mountain." He scowled, "Until the money ran out."

Long beard flowing Spider walked back to the driver's side of his car and got in, adjusting the rear view mirror as he grabbed the wheel with his other hand. "Well," he said flatly, "let's see what we can see." And with that he took off down the hill with a disregard for traffic laws that would have made Rei Ayanami proud.

Meanwhile, Misato Katsuragi was briefing Yui Ikari andGendo on possible security issues relating to the city and NERV. Yui looked thoughtful as the brown haired woman noted, "I'm surprised you have a reporter on the security watch."

"He's not your typical reporter," Gendo noted, recognizing the name. He smiled faintly, "Didn't he write that book on Keil...?"

"Shot in the face," Misato agreed, "somehow, Jerusalem ferreted out all the bribery, extortion and other activities Keil was using to try to lever control over Germany, and exposed it. Keil tried to sue but Jerusalem had backed up his data and Keil had to back down."

"I bet that made him happy," Yui murmured.

"Keil ordered Jerusalem assassinated but he was too quick for him," Misato noted. "Either that or Jerusalem is a lot more deadly than his file indicates."

"He wrote on the impact wars too," Gendo said with a slight smile, "fairly controversial stuff." As both Misato and Yui looked at him he shrugged slightly, "What? I'm a fan."

"Do we know what he's coming to the city to do?" Yui had to ask.

"I did some checking around," Misato said, "he's already published his first story about travelling in Japan under the title 'I hate it Here.' The JSSDF is less than happy about how he talks about them." She passed the paper over, "From what I can tell he's doing a feature on life in Tokyo-3, as well as anything that interests him."

"Oh lovely," Yui sighed.

Gendo read the article, smiling slightly, even as he pointed out, "This is a company town, more or less. I doubt Jerusalem will find much to write about."

"We'll see," Misato sighed.

The battered old car finally up and died near the center of toiwn, smoke billowing up from under the hood. Casually Spider got out and flipped up the metal hood, peering inside for a moment before deciding it was a lost cause. Slamming the hood down he went back to the back seat and rummaged around, emerging in a trench coat, his pockets stuffed with gear and a back pack slung over his shoulders.

Stalking through the streets Spider quickly decided that Tokyo-3 was far too clean of a city. There appeared to be no beggars on the streets, no random food stalls or druggies fornicating in alley ways. It was practically a ghost town!

"Damn you Mitchell Royce," Spider grumbled, referring to his editor, "you HAD to talk me into coming here? Place is as damn sterile as a hospital."

Striding along Spider saw a rather unusual looking young lady, her blue hair ruffled by the wind as she looked back at him curiously. Without and prompting she walked up to him, her expression curious as she asked, "What are you doing?"

Spider pushed his long hair back irritably, "Child, I am a serious man on serious business. Don't bother me."

"Why?" she asked, keeping pace with him. "Where are you going?"

Spider debated getting out the Bowel Disrupter to get the child away from him, but something about her told him it was a bad idea. "I'm looking for my apartment," Spider fished around in his pockets until he found the paper, and showed it to her.

"Hey, I know where that is! My bestest friend lives there!" the girl exclaimed happily.

Just then Spider KNEW he was going to hate it.

"Thanks," Spider said grudgingly as they reached the building.

"You're welcome," she smiled, somehow showing too many teeth. "I'm gonna go visit my friends, bye!"

Thankful the cheerful girl was gone, Spider decided to investigate his new home. It turned out the apartment block wasn't anywhere near as bad as his paranoid fantasies had made it out to be. There was no trash on the streets, no dead bodies in the corridors and after investigating his apartment it didn't look too bad.

Spider paused by a mirror and took in his full beard, long hair and slightly crazed wildman look. "Hrm," he mused, "I can see why I was getting odd looks. I need to look a bit... neater."

Was followed was a epic battle between hair, knife and a overstressed cleaning system. Much swearing, cursing and yelling were heard from the bathroom cubicle, as well as noxious smells and the distinct smoke from burning hair. Half a hour later Spider stumbled out of the bathroom in a robe, his hair completely gone and his tattoos fully visible for the first time in years.

Without all the hair and baggy clothes, Spider was really a thin, gangly sort of man. Black tattoos covered much of his body, mostly in stylized shapes, and a spider tattoo was on his head. He paused in front of the mirror and smiled wryly, even as he mused he could use some shades.

The sound of the doorbell induced a soft curse as Spider belted up his robe and stomped up to the door. "What?" he demanded, flinging the door open only to blink in surprise.

The purple haired woman was hot, dressed in just a skimpy t-shirt and jean shorts, her figure nearly bursting out of the clothes. Beside her was the odd blue haired girl, a fairly average looking boy and a orange haired teen with a figure that would match the older woman, eventually.

"Ahem,"Spider pulled his robe around him as he tried to hide any embarrassing arousal, "sorry, I just got out of the shower."

"It's fine," the woman waved it off, "Rei told me I have a new neighbor and I thought I'd come over and say hello." She smiled as she offered her hand, "Misato Katsuragi."

"Spider Jerusalem," he shook it even as her eyes widened.

"I'm Rei," the blue haired girl introduced herself boldly, "this is Shinji and Asuka."

"Aren't you the writer?" Asuka asked, her eyes shining as she said, "I loved your book!"

Spider noted the accent and figured she meant the Keil book. As he was forming an answer Misato quickly said, "Well, we didn't want to bother you while settling in. Have a nice day!" And with that she hustled the kids off, much like a mother would do after a encounter vwith the neighborhood dirty old man.

'Wonder what I did?' Spider wondered as he stalked back into his rooms. "Computer," he ordered, "look up Misato Katsuragi." There was a long, echoing silence and Spider scowled, "No voice interface for the computer? Oh, Mitchell, you are going to PAY for this!"

Finding the computer took a minute, digging up the data took a bit more, but soon Spider knew who Misato was, and was busy tracing the connections between her, NERV, and the Ikari family. He wasn't a hacker himself but he knew people who knew people, as they say, and he swiftly put together a picture of NERV and it's internal functions.

Sitting back Spider puffed a cigarette thoughtfully. 'With just this I could do a pretty good feature on nepotism in NERV,' he mused, 'what with Misato inheriting a job from her father, Professor Ikari hiring his daughter to run NERV and the rest, but it's all surface, it doesn't tell me what's really going on here.'

The phone rang and Spider picked it up, "Speak."

Mitchell Royce sighed, "You made it to Tokyo-3, I see."

"Royce, you cocksucker, this apartment is a dump! They don't even have a modern computer interface," Spider instantly complained.

"NERV doesn't like wireless interfaces," Royce said flatly, "I understand it's a security issue."

Spider raised his eyebrows slightly at that, but it was a good point. "All right," he conceded, "what do you want? I'm busy here."

"Where's my damn collumn?" Royce demanded bitchily, "I want it on my desk by tomorrow. And printable, too, not like when you types the word fuck 2000 times..."

"Yeah, yeah," Spider waved it off, "I have a line on something, but I want to do some digging first." He sat back, muttering, "Even a city this clean has some dirt somewhere."

"Just be careful," Royce actually sounded concerned as he said, "I know you wanted to go to Tokyo-3, but the Ikari's have a lot of pull. They could disappear you without a ripple."

"I survived the Impact wars and Keil," Spider sniffed, "I can survive here too." He smiled slightly, "Besides, the sights here are pretty interesting."

"Whatever," Royce said, "just watch your back."

Leaving the story to gel Spider went to the closet, noting with satisfaction that Royce had ordered in several of his favorite suits. Pulling on the summer weight trousers and coat, skipping a undershirt, Spider went outside, standing on the walkway and looking out at the city.

'The last hope for mankind,' Spider mused as he lit another cigarette, the smoke curling up into the air, 'and we're making children fight for us. Are we really worth saving at that cost?'

"Mr. Jerusalem?" the surprised voice asked.

Spider looked up to see the older woman, Misato, looking at him with a combination of concern and curiosity. "Yeah," he took a drag of his smoke then looked out over the city, "just taking a moment to think a little."

"I read your first 'I Hate it Here' column," Misato noted, "you've managed to piss a lot of people off already."

"It sort of goes with the job," Spider shrugged casually. He took another drag as he murmured, "I'll probably piss off a lot more people too."

To be continued...?

Notes: I'm sort of 'fusing' Spider's canon from Transmetropolitan onto the Evangelion canon, sorta. He's still a gonzo journalist and general bastard, but he's targeting characters in Evangelion canon rather than the Beast and the Smiler. I'm kind of tempted to use Spider to explore 'ground level' life in the Evangelion world, and how normal people cope.


End file.
